Stromgarde
= The Kingdom of Stromgarde = thumb|The flag of Stromgarde Leader: Prince Galen Trollbane, son of King Thoras Trollbane Colour: Red The city of Stromgarde was founded Strom, then the home of the Arathi tribe of humans living in what were later to be known as the Eastern Kingdoms. Through a combination of diplomatic ingenunity and military prowess, the Arathi managed to both conquer and unite the other nearby human tribes and solidify the banner of the burgeoning Arathi Empire. The city of Strom grew as a center of wealth, power and learning until the dawning of the Troll Wars. It was at this point that the High Elves of Quel'Thalas, formerly aloof and untalkative toward the humans, beseeched their southern neighbors for aid against the Forest Trolls -- the remnants of the Amani Empire. The High Elves agreed to teach the humans of Strom the ways of magic in exchange for military aid. Thus, in a decisive battle east of the Alterac Mountains, the armies of the trolls met the combined forces of the humans and High Elves. The trolls were vanquished, and the battle was the last time the trolls of the north would ever fight as a unified people. However, the battle was, at the same time, the beginning of the end of the Arathi Empire. The humans who had been trained as mages by the Elves took to the art of magic easily, with an even greater penchant for the potent forces of the Twisting Nether than Elves themselves. The rules of Strom, concerned with the growing power of the mages, placed numerous restrictions on the manner in which magic could be used. Over time, the practitioners of the arcane grew weary of these restrictions and set off to found their own city wherein magic could be practiced freely -- this gave rise to the city of Dalaran on the southern shores of Lordamere Lake. This initial splintering created the momentum amongst the Arathi people needed to launch wave after wave of westward and northward expansion. Amongst the numerous cities founded during this time were Stratholme and Lordaeron. One particular movement opted to travel far to the south, eventually establishing the city of Stormwind. Many of these newer cities began to attract settlers at an astonishing rate, and it was only a matter of years before the once-powerful Arathi Empire was splintered into seven distinct human nations. Strom was no longer the center of the world, and it was during this time that its leaders changed its name to Stromgarde. By the time of the Second War, the Kingdom of Stromgarde controlled only the Arathi Highlands and the island-fortress of Tol Barad. It was quick to join the Alliance of Lordaeron under the leadership of King Terenas, and was involved in the military effort to defeat the Orcs and push them back to the Dark Portal. During the events of the Third War, Stromgarde managed prevent the Undead Scourge from ravaging trough her lands. Despite this victory, the darkest hour of Stormgarde was yet to come. King Thoras Trollbane soon assassinated under mysterious circumstances, and the Kingdom of Stormgarde came under siege by forces of the Syndicate. The Syndicate won several victories against the now weakened kingdom, and managed to occupy much of its terrain, including most of the capital city. Stromgarde is a kingdom no longer, it's proud people now no more then three thousand souls. It's army, however, is far from defeated, and still maintains a base of strategic operations at the crevasse known as Refuge Pointe in the nearby Highlands, as well as portions of the devastated capital city itself. The citizens of Stormgarde formed the League of Arathor, which fights to free the rest of the Arathi Highland, the basin, and it's many resources, from the hands of the Forsaken Defilers and the forces of Hammerfall. Those proud people still see themselves as a seperate entity and head only their leader, the prince Galen Trollbane. They do not fall under the rule of Stormwind, but still see themselves as part of the Alliance. =Bloodline= As part of a Horde quest-line, Galen Trollbane is assassinated in World of WarCraft. It seems that Blizzard is moving towards a non-conflicting story-line (as opposed to WarCraft 1 and 2, WarCraft 3 had only a single story-arc, as does World of WarCraft), so his death will most likely remain permanent. If this is the case, the only living member of the Trollbane bloodline is Danath Trollbane, who will make his first appearance since WarCraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal in the expansion, Burning Crusade, in Outland. thumb|The ruins of Stromgarde = Stromgarde Keep = Level 30-45 Sub-Region Also called Stromgarde Keep. Also written as StromGarde. Stromgarde Keep is a ruined keep on the southwest corner of the Arathi Highlands in Lordaeron (location map). It is divided into three sections - one under the roll of the Syndicate, the other prey to Ogres and Trolls and the other still under the control of the people of Strom and the headquarters of Prince Galen. The geographic location of Stromgarde, coupled with the defense provided by Thoradin's Wall, helped to ensure its survival when the Scourge invaded Lordaeron and destroyed that kingdom. Ultimately, however, Stromgarde would not meet a better fate herself, as a few short years after the defeat of the Burning Legion, the city finally fell to the forces of the shadowy organization known as the Syndicate. Composed of members of the former nation of Alterac, the Syndicate's aim was to exact vengeance upon the human kingdoms its leaders felt had betrayed Alterac during the Second War. One of the highest-ranking leaders of the Syndicate, Lord Falconcrest, commanded Syndicate efforts from the keep in the center of Stromgarde until agents of the Alliance confronted and slew him -- surely a sweet moment for those who had to witness the fall of humanity's oldest city. It is likely that his death disrupted Syndicate efforts in the Arathi region to a great degree Stromgarde is also the setting for the popular fan movie Return which won an award at BlizzCon. =Quests= See goblinworkshop list of quests for Stromgarde =See also= *Arathor *Arathi Category:Zone:Arathi Highlands Category:Human Nations Category:Ruins Category:Forts